India developing Agni VI ballistic missile, says DRDO chief

Bangalore, Feb. 8 (ANI): Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief V.K. Saraswat on Friday said the country is developing Agni VI ballistic missile that would carry multiple warheads allowing one weapon system to take out several targets at a time.

He said Agni-V is major strategic defence weapon and Agni-VI would be a force multiplier.

The DRDO chief, who refused to divulge the range of the new under- development missile, said the force multiplier capability of the missile would be because of its Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) capability.

The Agni-5 ballistic missile, which was test-fired in April last year, has a range of up to 5,500 kms and it is believed that the Agni-6 would have a range longer than its predecessor.

"It will have force multiplier capability by the MIRV approach which would enable us to deliver many payloads at the same time using only one missile. Work is on in this area and designs have been completed. We are now in the hardware realisation phase," he said.

According to DRDO officials, once the Agni-6 is developed, it would propel India into the elite club of nations with such a capability including the US and Russia.

The DRDO is also working towards developing a cruise missile defence programme that would enable the armed forces to defend against low-flying cruise missiles and enemy aircraft. (ANI)